I really like the look of the Williams set on toolsdelivered.com. One thing that really appeals to me about the SK set though is the laser etching and stamping of the sockets. I really don't know how I feel about supporting SK though. There's been enough posts about their warranty and people having problems getting tools warranted that I am worried. If I am paying more than Harbor Freight money, I want a no questions asked replacement warranty and that doesn't appear to be what I'd get with SK. I'm confident based upon my dealings with Snap On directly that I'd have no problem ever warrantying a Williams socket. I'm kind of torn. Does anyone know if the SK impacts have the flank drive-like side gripping action? It appears that the Williams do. The warranty seems to be the real sticking point with me for the SK sockets but is it really even possible to abuse impacts? Thanks for the input.
The Williams/SO Industrial warranty is almost exactly the same wording as the SK wording. The products are warrantied against manufacturers defects and materials. A cracked impact socket would be a defect.
That being said, I have no idea if you tried to wear out an impact if they would warranty it. Sears would. Which is also why I bought the Sears set. Sears is the only no questions asked no receipt required warranty. Plus I want to support Sears buying their (what's left) quality tools. If you're going to be using them 24/7 I would buy something that can easily be replaced or is so cheap that you can just buy another one, IE Sunex 2646 for roughly $150. If not I don't think you can go wrong with any name or off brand set.
The SK and Craftsman impacts have the flank drive like cutouts, like every modern day socket. No idea what sort of material they are made out of, chrome moly has been around for decades however so I suspect that while Sunex advertises its impacts as being made out of chrome moly I would guess that Sears, SK, Proto, etc. are all made out of similar materials.
If I were to do it again I'd buy the Craftsman set just like I did and buy the Harbor Freight axle socket set since I needed a 30mm and 34mm 6 point. I also need a 30mm 12 point and I will just buy that for around $10. No need to really have a 23mm, 25mm, 26mm, 28mm, 29mm since there really aren't any cars that use those size bolts if you are a DIY. The Craftsman set covers virtually all SAE and metric sizes used. It would save some money and reduce the amount of stuff you have crammed in your toolbox.
